I use zip loc quart bags that have a pump to pump out the air. I put about a cup scoop in each bag flatten and suck the air out. It works well for me and lasts about 2-3 days and then I am on a new bag. The 5 lbs lasts me about 2 months. I keep it in the large freezer outside that doesn't get opened much or defrosted automatically. So, they are frozen a short time in good conditions. I have used beans up to 6 months old that way. I think my way takes up less room than jars. I don't know what I will do if they stop making the bags.... I guess I could get a seal a meal thing.

I order beans that arrive 48 hours post-roast (i.e.: roasted Tuesday, arrives Thursday). I transfer the beans directly into Ball canning jars -- these jars hold enough beans to last a couple of days. As I need more beans, I remove one jar from the freezer and let it rise to ambient temperature overnight before emptying the entirety of its contents into the grinder.

Simple. Easy. And I've (accidentally) left beens in the freezer for over 3 months with no discernible decrease in quality.

I order beans that arrive 48 hours post-roast (i.e.: roasted Tuesday, arrives Thursday). I transfer the beans directly into Ball canning jars -- these jars hold enough beans to last a couple of days. As I need more beans, I remove one jar from the freezer and let it rise to ambient temperature overnight before emptying the entirety of its contents into the grinder.

Simple. Easy. And I've (accidentally) left beans in the freezer for over 3 months with no discernible decrease in quality.

Agreed. I've found these jars hold about 10-12g beans per ounce. So, figure ~90g for an 8oz jar (about 5 18g or 6 16g doubles), twice that for a 16oz jar and half that for a 4 oz jar. Then you can decide which size jars you want to use.

.Always remember the most important thing is what ends up in your cup!

A lot of good suggestions here, but they all seem to say to order your beans.

I'm not sure what your choices for locally roasted are , but I would look into it. I live in Denver, CO and use locally roasted beans almost exclusively. I like that I can talk with the buyers and roasters about technique and temperature for the different roasts and my local choices can be be damned good. My staples are Novo and Corvus, both of which you can order online if you want to try them, but that's not the point of this post ;-)

We also have another roaster who only roasts 4-lb batches, so Denver is a pretty good coffee town.

If you have a Whole Foods that roasts in the store, try the fresh-roasted Allegro Espresso Bel Canto. It's not a world-class choice, but it pulls good shots, especially when it is fresh. Our store lists the roast date on the bin and they go through a lot of it, so it is never over two or three days past roasting.

Nine years ago, when I first got my machine, I was spending a lot on shipping and getting some of the beans mentioned here, but nothing beats local if you have the choices. Worth looking into at least.

Rich,I am very, very particular with the flavors from my roasts. I spend about $12 a lb. at one local place a couple miles from our home. I really liked it when they were using a Costa Rican/Brazilian blend. Unbeknownst to me, they changed their blend to Guatamalen/Brazilian. I started having problems with not able to get the beans ground fine enough even though I had my Vario on the finest I could get it at. It poured out like sour water, blonding within 10-15 seconds. I knew this was not normal, as I had been using their normal blend for years mainly with very few issues. I wasn't doing anything different. I finally found out that they changed the blend. It just happened to correspond with when I started having my issues with their beans. The owner said they will be going back to the original blend towards the later part of March. There is one other place that works pretty decent locally. It's just that for $15 a lb., it is very oily. I hate to think what it would do to my burrs long term useage. Don't use it for that reason regularly.That's it. I may check out the Whole Foods if it is just roasted within a couple days. We have one in our downtown area.I still love Ambrosia by Café Fresco, Redbird is very good and a new one I tried is Barrington Gold. Barrington Gold poured out in the perfect 25 seconds (some other roasts are 25-35 seconds), was a perfect goldy, rusty brown-- and a delicious flavor. Beautiful crema each and every time. That one is about $24 a lb. (that includes shp. about $6), so unfortunately; I can't get it all the time. I go through a pound in about 1 1/2 weeks. That would literally break our budget.Would you say the Allegro Espresso Bel Canto is more of a light or medium roast. I only make cappuccinos--normally 2 of the double shot baskets that Gaggia Classic includes with their machine. I HAVE to taste the "punch" of the espresso through the cream and froth or it is not worth the money, thus if it is a light roast, for sure it will not work with how I drink it. Thanks.

I understand the breaking the bank thing. Some of the Corvus single origins are $16 for a 12 oz bag! I tend to keep them for my straight shots and use more reasonable beans for milk drinks. Espresso Novo is my goto, but it is still $12 per pound.

As for the Bel Canto, they call it a "northern Italian" roast. Compared to the light roasts from Novo and Corvus, I'd call it a medium. Just a tiny bit of oil on the beans, but it doesn't gum up my grinder. It is probably the darkest roast I put in it.

If your store doesn't roast their own, they will probably have bags or it roasted at Allegro that should be correct. I'd check the roast date though (if I remember right, they use a label where the first two digits are the week of the year it is roasted).

I find it to be a good blend for milk drinks and acceptable for shots, but not great. What ever you do though, don't get the Sierra Espresso. It is dark and oily.

Rich,I called our ONLY Whole Foods in Wisconsin & the guy said they had none of that particular roast you mentioned roasted, but if I wanted some, they could always roast some. After I read the multiple comments about a lot of the Whole Foods over roasting their beans, I'm thinking I will continue to buy from the 3 mail order roasters I trust, and hopefully in March--our local roaster will be back to the same bean blend that worked with my equipment. Oh well....

I've got a new (to me) blend in the machine today, Victrola Coffee Streamline Espresso from Seattle. Got it at a local shop with a roast date of 2/15 and didn't have to pay shipping. Only had it with milk so far, but it pulled a really nice shot after dialing back the grinder a bit. It is darker than the Corvus I had before, but just about everything is.

The roasting at whole foods depends on the location, the ones here roast fairly consistent medium unless its French roast blend or something to that nature. You should go down to the wholes foods to check it out a lot of times they will carry good local roasters and believe it or not the are some in your state I.e. mighty good coffee madcap etc.

Intrepid,What are the good (or better :) ) local roasters in Wisconsin that you know of. I know of 1 or 2, but like I said, one uses too dark of a roast that will likely gum up my grinder if used regularly; the other changed their blend that doesn't work well at all in my setup. Thanks.

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